


The Jewel of Awad

by segerge



Series: TASK FORCE [29]
Category: HERO Champions
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 22:49:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7732858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/segerge/pseuds/segerge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(February 1995) Julie is forced to seek allies from enemies when Bob is kidnapped by a former student of his from college.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Jewel of Awad

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings** : language, non-consensual sex, intense action sequences, brutal catfight, epic destruction.
> 
> * * *
> 
> #### DRAMATIS PERSONAE
> 
> **heroes**
> 
>   * Julie Dormyer Hawkins (AKA Ladyhawk), Chairman of the Board of Directors for ProStar, disgustingly-powerful ninja with latent powers of temporal visualization
>   * Dr. Bob Hawkins (AKA Starforce), Senior Research Scientist for ProStar, disgustingly-powerful power-armor wearer/gadgeteer
>   * Dr. Matt Fuseli (AKA Biomaster), disgustingly-powerful neurokinetic manipulator and reformed supervillain
> 

> 
> **villains**
> 
>   * Katharine el-Hassan, daughter of the current Sultan of Awad
>   * Dr. Tara Lemick (AKA Lady Blue), power-armor wearer and social justice warrior
>   * Holo-D, holographic AI interface to the late Doctor Destroyer's technical database
>   * Francois Rochemont, leader of UNTIL Special Operations Detachment (DFW)
> 

> 
> **other**
> 
>   * BGEN Ted Jameson (AKA Ranger), director of PRIMUS, retired superhero
> 

> 
> **AUTHOR'S NOTE 1** : Internal monologue is denoted by [[ ]], telepathy by (( ))
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 2** : Personal thanks to my ex-wife Devonna for her constructive critiques and suggestions concerning the central plot point of this story, and providing me access to her online textbooks to study the psychology of rape victims.
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 3** : Unless stated otherwise, the music for this story is [Desert Rose](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3lWwBslWqg) by Sting
> 
> * * *

**PROLOGUE** : Memorial Union Building, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. Early Spring 1982

(The Purdue Varsity Glee Club, in tux and tails, is lined up in the hall outside of the Main Ballroom ready to take the stage for their latest concert. A shapely, athletic woman of Arabic descent with vivid blue eyes walks north down the other side of the hallway until she sees Bob Hawkins lined up with the rest of the 3rd row Baritones. They make eye contact)

 **Girl** : "Robert?"

 **Bob** : "Kat?"

 **Random Glee Clubber** : "Oooh, Clown Prince of the Keyboard had a girlfriend all along!"

 **Random Glee Clubber 2** : "Holdin' out on us, weren't you Bob?"

(The Glee Club in Bob's immediately vicinity laughs while Bob blushes slightly)

 **Bob** : "Guys, knock it off! This is Kat Hassan, she's an undergraduate in Physics, and can eviscerate you with Math if you piss her off."

 **Random Glee Clubber 3** : "You been tutoring her, Bob?"

(shocked pause, then the members of the Glee Club all go there. Ribald laughter, and Bob earns some back slaps)

 **Kat** (innocent smile): "I could eviscerate you all with scimitars, too, if I had them with me."

(the nearer Glee Clubbers back away a step as the ones farther away go "Ooooo...")

 **Bob** : "Kat, be nice and sheath your claws."

 **Kat** (to Bob): "So, how did your job interview go? You had already left your lab for the day when I came by to ask..."

 **Bob** : "I got the job."

 **Kat** : "AWEsome!!" (beat) "So the company's called ProTech?"

 **Bob** : "ProStar. They're a high-tech firm just north of Dallas."

 **Kat** : "I bet it pays better than the postdoc position Overhauser was offering you..."

(there is a commotion in the front of the line of Glee Club members waiting to enter the Main Ballroom. The door is open, and the members are beginning to run in and up onto the stage)

 **Bob** : "Oh, crap!"

 **Kat** : "Wha..."

 **Bob** (pointing to the wall behind Kat): "Get up against that wall and STAY there until we're all past you! My show's starting!"

(wide-eyed, Kat does as she is told. Bob winks and gives her a wide smile as it's finally his turn to start running into the Ballroom. She watches as the rest of the Varsity Glee Club runs past and inside before slipping in herself to watch the show)

* * *

(PRIMUS HQ, Washington DC. Morning, sometime in February of 1995)

(Julie 'Ladyhawk' Hawkins is in Ted 'Ranger' Jameson's office)

 **Ladyhawk** (angry): "PRIMUS can't be so incompetent that they LOST Bob!"

 **Ranger** : "Julie, we're still collecting evidence! Believe me, we're PAINFULLY aware of what Bob's disappearance could mean!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "THAT'S NOT BRINGING BOB BACK TO ME!"

 **Ranger** : "Julie? Calm down..."

 **Ladyhawk** (hotly): "No!"

 **Ranger** (angry): "Calm. DOWN!"

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ranger** : "I know you're upset..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "And THAT is supposed to calm me *down*?'

 **Ranger** : "PRIMUS is doing everything we can..."

 **Ladyhawk** (screaming): "BULLSHIT!!"

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (continuing, angry AND screaming): "IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN SUPERPOWERS TO SPIRIT NERD-BOY AWAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT PARTY LAST NIGHT! YOU KNOW THAT AS WELL AS I DO!!"

 **Ranger** : "I know that..."

 **Ladyhawk** (angry and screaming): "THEN WHY AREN'T YOU LETTING ME HELP YOU?!?"

 **Ranger** : "Julie..."

 **Ladyhawk** (interrupting): "DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, DAMN YOU!! THIS IS MY HUSBAND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!! FIND MY HUSBAND!!"

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ranger** : "We're not getting a whole lot accomplished here..."

 **Ladyhawk** (disgusted, turning for the entrance to Ted's office): "Damn straight."

* * *

(Also morning, but somewhere else)

 **Female Voice** : "Time to wake up, my love."

(Bob 'Starforce' Hawkins' eyes spring open. The bedroom he finds himself in is unfamiliar, as is the tropical air and the sound of surf crashing against a shoreline somewhere outside and below)

 **Starforce** : "Where am I?"

 **Female Voice** : "In my bedroom, my love."

(Bob sits up. The room is a fusion of modern and medieval Arabic styles. A shapely woman of Arabic descent with vivid blue eyes sits at the foot of the bed, holding a rubber belt containing a glowing, high-tech device. Her dress is a strange mix of modern and Arabic styling)

 **Starforce** (beat): "This isn't DC."

 **Female** (deadpan): "Perceptive."

 **Starforce** : "Where am I?"

 **Female** : "The Sultanate of Awad. You are familiar with it?"

 **Starforce** : "It's where ARGENT went after they were chased out of the United States in 1983." (beat, focusing on the female) "I should know you."

 **Female** : "It's been 13 years."

(that's pretty much all the clue Bob needs right now)

 **Starforce** : "Kat?"

 **Kat** : "Took you long enough to remember me, Bob."

 **Starforce** : "My life's been busy since I left Purdue."

 **Kat** : "I know. I've been following your activities. And those of a certain powered-armor hero who showed up in the Dallas area shortly after you moved there."

(tense pause. With the grace of a dancer, Kat gets off of the bed and walks toward its front)

 **Kat** (continuing): "That press conference of yours after Detroit was obliterated was no surprise to me, love." /* 'The Battle of Detroit' */

 **Starforce** : "Why do you keep calling me that?"

 **Kat** : "Because it's true."

 **Starforce** : "Excuse me?"

 **Kat** : "The first time we met was the fall 1980 semester. I bumped into you trying to find the Physics building when I was right in front of it."

 **Starforce** : "You had been told it was the red brick building on the Mall, not knowing red brick was the predominant construction material on campus and that there were three malls. I remember, now."

 **Kat** : "You made quite an impression on me that afternoon! One that convinced me to change my major."

 **Starforce** : "Is that why you were always in the classes that I was the TA for?"

 **Kat** (sultry): "Mm-hnnn."

 **Starforce** (beat): "Why didn't you just *say* something back then if you were attracted to me? I wasn't totally clueless about women back then."

 **Kat** : "I was part of my people's royalty, and you were just a commoner. Despite my wishes and desires, it never would have worked out back then."

(awkward pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** : "Just for professional curiosity, how were you able to knock me out back in DC?"

 **Kat** (holding the high-tech rubber belt up): "ARGENT was able to get hold of the research notes behind the creation of the supervillainess Copycat a few years ago. While we couldn't duplicate her metamorphic abilities, the linked ability which rendered her victims comatose was fairly easy to duplicate."

 **Starforce** (touching his head): "Without the hangover effects I remember experiencing at her hands. I suppose I should be grateful for small favors." /* 'Masquerade' */

 **Kat** : "You're welcome."

 **Starforce** : "You went to an awful lot of effort to kidnap me. I assume it's to be more than just your love slave?"

 **Kat** : "Well, that too." (beat) "I brought you back to Awad with me for your brain as well as your body, love."

 **Starforce** : "Why?"

 **Kat** : "My father is dying."

 **Starforce** : "If you needed biological or medical science, you would have been FAR better served to kidnap Matt Fuseli."

 **Kat** : "I don't need to prolong his life. I need to be unassailable in the coming power struggle to replace him!"

 **Starforce** : "I thought ARGENT ran Awad."

 **Kat** : "ARGENT and Awad have a... complicated... relationship. ARGENT will not protect me from the storm that I am about to face."

 **Starforce** : "Sucks to be you in a Shiite culture."

(Kat slaps Bob. Beat while Bob rubs his cheek and jaw)

 **Kat** : "You always had an impertinent tongue."

 **Starforce** : "It's part of my obnoxious charm." (beat) "Why stay here if it's about to become so dangerous to you? You could always escape..."

 **Kat** (angry): "And go WHERE? Kazakhstan and *hope* that Col. Varinnikov succeeds in his quixotic attempt to resurrect the Soviet Union in Central Asia? Western Europe to become just another soulless drone with Duchess Industries and VIPER? Go back to America and work for the same Franklin Stone who had your government throw ARGENT out of America after killing my mother?"

(she turns away from Bob to look out the window)

 **Kat** : "My fate is here, bound to the Awadi. I must be strong enough that no one will DARE challenge me when I make my move!"

 **Starforce** : "You want me to build you a weapon."

 **Kat** : "I want you to build me a quantum-displacement teleporter."

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Kat** : "That is something you can build for me, is it not?"

 **Starforce** : "Technically, yes. I've been exposed to it often enough in my life."

 **Kat** (walking from the window to the bed): "Good. You'll get started this afternoon."

(Kat is now standing right in front of where Bob is sitting on the bed)

 **Starforce** : "Why can't I get started this morning?"

(Kat throws Bob roughly down onto the bed and leaps on him)

 **Kat** (snarling as she rips his t-shirt off): "Because you'll be making love to me all morning!"

 **Starforce** : "Like HELL I will!"

(Bob's pushed Offensive Strike does 16 STUN after defenses, knocking Kat off of Bob. Desperately, he leaps off the bed for the door, only to be tackled by Kat before he can make it)

 **Kat** (holding Bob's leg out): "I'll break it!"

(Bob's doing amazingly well for being out of armor and spotting Kat 4 points of SPD. He hits Kat with his other leg for another 17 STUN)

(Furious, Kat finally strikes back for 4 BODY and 26 STUN after defenses, CON-stunning Bob.

 **Kat** (to Bob, moaning on the floor): "Just GREAT! I'm going to have to wait for you to heal that broken rib before I can have you!"

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II, Lakewood Village, TX. Simultaneous with previous scene)

(due to the 10 time-zone difference between the Arabian Penninsula and Texas, it's nighttime in Lakewood Village. Julie can't stop pacing while hugging Merlyn)

(Merlyn meows as she stops by the piano)

 **Ladyhawk** (looking at the piano): "I know, cat. I worry about him, too."

(the phone rings, startling Julie)

 **Shina** (offscreen from the Breakfast Nook): "Dormyer Manor. How may I help you?"

(Julie is already walking toward the Breakfast Nook as Shina walks out holding a phone)

 **Shina** (to phone): "Yes, she's right here."

(Julie mouths the word 'Who?' as she shifts Merlyn over to her other shoulder)

 **Shina** : "Dr. Lemick."

(Julie looks at Shina strangely. Shina can only shrug her shoulders as she hands the phone off to Julie)

 **Ladyhawk** : "I'm not having a real good night right now, Tara..."

 **Lady Blue** (over phone): "You need to see what I have to show you, Warbucks! Trust me, you're gonna find it more helpful than PRIMUS has been."

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "Where are you?"

 **Lady Blue** (over phone): "Inbound from your east, ETA 30 seconds."

(right on cue, a shooting star curves lazily out of the sky over Little Elm and begins to streak over Lake Lewisville)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Would it be TOO much to ask you *not* to come through the window to the Great Room?"

 **Lady Blue** (over phone): "Geez, Warbucks, have some faith!"

(the shooting star decelerates to a smooth halt over the Veranda, revealing Tara 'Lady Blue' Lemick. Putting Merlyn and the phone down, Julie lets her in)

 **Lady Blue** (looking around): "I love what you've done to the place."

 **Ladyhawk** : "You have information concerning Bob's disappearance?"

 **Lady Blue** : "Yes." (beat, looking around) "Do you have anything more sophisticated than a TV for playback?"

(on a nearby coffee table, a trade paperback-sized casing with a translucent jewel on its cover flares to life. Holo-D appears and bows extragantly toward Lady Blue)

 **Holo-D** (suave): "Perhaps I may be of assistance, Dr. Lemick?"

 **Lady Blue** (unsure, looking at Holo-D): "And you are..."

 **Holo-D** : "The interface to the late Doctor Destroyer's technical database, at your service milady!"

 **Ladyhawk** (to Holo-D): "Are you *flirting* with Tara?"

 **Holo-D** (to Ladyhawk): "Hush, the adults are talking."

 **Lady Blue** (fascinated): "Is this what Clinton tried to steal from Hoosier Boy two years ago?" /* 'United States v. Hawkins' */

 **Holo-D** (to Lady Blue, suave): "In the flesh!" (beat, embarrased) "So to speak."

(Lady Blue can't help herself. She giggles and smiles)

 **Lady Blue** (to Ladyhawk): "You never told me about him when I helped you penetrate the White House network! Shame on you!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "You don't have to live with him on a daily basis. I *do*."

 **Lady Blue** (to Holo-D): "How do I get the data to you for display?"

 **Holo-D** : "I've already accessed it while I was flirting with you."

(Lady Blue's amusement at Holo-D suddenly turns into anger)

 **Lady Blue** : "HEY!"

 **Holo-D** (suave): "Not my fault you were so amenable to distraction."

 **Lady Blue** : "Like THIS?"

(Holo-D's image is abruptly replaced by multiple holographic windows hovering in front of Lady Blue and Julie)

 **Holo-D** (angry, voice only): "HEY!"

 **Lady Blue** : "Distraction works both ways, Mister Hologram."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Are we BOTH quite through here?"

(Lady Blue somehow manages to look sheepish under Julie's reproach)

 **Lady Blue** : "Okay. I've been really busy for the past week, since a bunch of mercs tried to kidnap *me* from my Secret Headquarters."

 **Ladyhawk** : "It's a brownstone in the Little Poland neighborhood of Brooklyn, where you grew up. Would you like me to give you its street address?"

(awkward pause)

 **Lady Blue** : "I was able to interrogate the more conscious of the mercs before leaving them for the Sentinels. Short version, somebody in ARGENT is *really* interested in developing a quantum-displacement teleporter for their own personal use."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Who do they work for?"

 **Lady Blue** : "A company out of Dubai that is a known shell corporation for ARGENT, which are also used by the Awadi to circumvent their international sanction regime."

 **Ladyhawk** : "So ARGENT tried to kidnap you to build them a teleporter?"

 **Lady Blue** : "You're still pretty smart for old money, Warbucks."

(by this time, Shina has appeared in the Great Room with spiced tea service for Julie and Lady Blue)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Shina, taking her tea): "Arigato."

 **Lady Blue** (to Shina, taking her tea): "Why are you being nice to me? The last time we talked, I bluffed you into putting your overgrown hand-cannon away!" /* 'Escalation' */

 **Shina** (to Lady Blue): "Tonight, you are Julie-san's guest." (beat) "And you have information vital for rescuing Master Robert."

 **Lady Blue** (to Shina): "Thank you."

(she sips her tea as Shina leaves. Her eyes widen, and she drinks some more)

 **Lady Blue** : "Apple Cinnamon?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Nerd-boy's favorite."

 **Lady Blue** : "So he likes something other than Dr. Pepper. Huh."

 **Holo-D** (voice only): "Uh, guys?"

 **Ladyhawk** (to Lady Blue): "What do you have?"

(Lady Blue peers at the multiple holographic windows, then selects one for expansion. A shapely woman of Arabic descent with vivid blue eyes fills the still shot from the security camera)

 **Lady Blue** : "Meet Katharine el-Hassan. Senior executive with ARGENT, fugitive from both American and World justice, spotted in DC last night at a time suspiciously coincident with Hoosier Boy's disappearance from your party on K street."

 **Ladyhawk** (fascinated): "Do tell!" (beat) "So, other than she helps run ARGENT, what else can you tell me about her?"

 **Lady Blue** : "For starters, Daddy is the current Sultan of Awad and Mommy was an important executive with ARGENT's North American operations before our government closed them down in 1983."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Anything else that might be important about her?"

 **Lady Blue** : "Graduate of Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN?"

(shocked pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Does she have a connection with Bob?"

 **Lady Blue** : "To the best of my investigations, she not only changed her major to Physics she made a deliberate point of being in classes whose graduate teaching assistant was Hoosier Boy!" (beat) "I don't know about you, but I'm getting a _Fatal Attraction_ vibe here."

 **Ladyhawk** (puzzled): "Nerd-boy's never mentioned her to me!"

 **Lady Blue** : "For what it's worth, me neither." (beat) "Then again, this is Bob Hawkins we're talking about. He was *so* clueless about women when he was that age."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Speak for yourself."

(long pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (continuing): "Look at us, talking about the same man. We're *really* flunking the Bechdel Test here, aren't we?"

 **Lady Blue** : "Warbucks, WHY do you always have to say things I can *not* unhear?!? I'd almost purged my memory of that damned 'Feminism and Literary Criticism' class I took in college!"

(beat, then in spite of themselves they share a brief laugh)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Now what?"

 **Lady Blue** (gesturing toward Holo-D's virtual windows): "I've already helped you more than PRIMUS and the Cowboy have. Can't you take it from there?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I don't have a superteam at my beck and call anymore to go on a hostage rescue!" (beat, embarrased) "I haven't even worked off the baby fat from Laura's birth, yet..."

 **Lady Blue** (sipping her tea): "There is an UNTIL detachment just down the street from you that specializes in Hoosier Boy, isn't there?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Yes..."

 **Lady Blue** (continuing): "I'm sure you could get *them* to help you if you told them that ARGENT was turning Hoosier Boy into his father."

(stunned pause, held gaze)

 **Lady Blue** (setting the teacup down on the coffee table): "Good night, Warbucks."

(she steps outside onto the Veranda and takes off. The shooting star of her passage zooms up into the sky and off to the northeast)

* * *

(Katharine el-Hassan's personal quarters, al-Muhsanat Jawhira. That evening [Awad time])

(Kat saunters in to her bedchambers dressed in a barely-there negligee, spinning a key on one finger while smiling. Bob is handcuffed to the bed, his face bearing the signs of recent bruising)

 **Kat** (sultry): "I had no idea you would like it so rough."

 **Starforce** : "Because I was trying to keep you from doing it?"

 **Kat** (laughing): "HOW?!? I've got 10 points on you on the Allston Scale and I'm twice as quick as you are!" (beat) "I *am* impressed at how quickly you healed the broken rib from this morning."

 **Starforce** : "Am I supposed to be flattered by that?"

 **Kat** : "It MEANS that no matter what you do to try to escape me or defend yourself from me, you'll heal anything I'm forced to do to you in four to six hours!"

 **Starforce** : "You're SICK!"

 **Kat** : "No. Only in love."

 **Starforce** : "And insane, too." (beat, angry) "This ISN'T love, Kat! This is... is..."

(Bob can't make himself say the word he's looking for)

 **Kat** (innocently): "Rape?"

(Bob grits his teeth in rage)

 **Kat** : "You think I'm RAPING you?"

 **Starforce** : "What else would you call it when sex isn't consensual?"

 **Kat** (getting up off the bed): "You enjoyed it and you know it."

(ripping the blankets off of Bob, she jumps on top of his body)

 **Kat** (snarling while straddling Bob): "And you'll enjoy it again if you know what's good for you!"

(the tears in Bob's eyes do not mask the rage and anger also in them as Kat forces herself on him again)

* * *

(801 Stowe Lane, Lakewood Village, TX. Simultaneous with previous scene [The next morning, Texas time])

(An UNTIL agent steps up to Captain Rochemont as he gets his breakfast in the kitchen of the DFW UNTIL Safehouse)

 **UNTIL Agent** : "Captain, we have a guest."

(UNTIL Capt. Francois Rochemont steps out of the kitchen with his breakfast to see Julie in the front door)

 **Rochemont** : "Mademoiselle Hawkins!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I need your help."

(awkward pause, held gaze)

 **Rochemont** : "Would this have something to do with the Son of Zerstoiten's disappearance two nights ago in DC?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Yes."

 **Rochemont** : "And is there some information you wish to give UNTIL which you have yet to volunteer to PRIMUS?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I found out why he left."

 **Rochemont** : "And that would be..."

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "He ran off with a former student of his from his college days."

 **Rochemont** : "Then you have a marital problem, Mademoiselle, not one that impacts world security."

 **Ladyhawk** : "The STUDENT is an executive with the renegade organization ARGENT who intends to exploit his knowledge of his father's technology!"

 **Rochemont** : "If he was going to do that, wouldn't he have taken his father's technical database with him?"

(awkward pause)

 **Rochemont** : "A database which, to the best of UNTIL's current knowledge, still resides safely within your manor across the street?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "My husband, the SON OF DOCTOR DESTROYER, has been kidnapped by an evil organization!"

 **Rochemont** : "A fact which UNTIL is aware of, Mademoiselle."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I know where he is being held."

 **Rochemont** : "Given ARGENT's current status, that would either be Larisagrad or Awad."

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "Awad. He's in the custody of an individual named Kat el-Hassan."

 **Rochemont** : "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a strike mission to plan."

 **Ladyhawk** (hotly): "Let me come with you!"

 **Rochemont** : "You are not an UNTIL agent, Mademoiselle Hawkins. Nor are you a superheroine anymore. Even if I were so inclined to entertain your request, I would be bound by regulations not to."

 **Ladyhawk** : "WHAT?!?

 **Rochemont** : "Good day, Mademoiselle."

(he shuts the door on Julie. Beat, then there is furious hammering from the other side of the door)

 **Ladyhawk** (muffled): "ROCHEMONT!!"

 **Rochemont** (to an agent next to him as he turns to leave the front door): "If she attempts to force entrance, escort her from the property in restraints."

 **Agent** : "Yes, sir."

* * *

(Quantum Displacement Lab, al-Muhsanat Jawhira. The next morning [Awad time])

(Bob pulls himself out of an equipment bay next to something that looks like a transporter pad from one of the _Star Trek_ series. An ARGENT agent guarding him watches his activities warily)

 **Agent** : "Status?"

 **Starforce** : "The physical connections are all together. I have to go work on the control programming, now."

 **Agent** : "That was quick."

 **Starforce** : "When you've suffered quantum displacement teleportation as often as I have in my life, you figure out very quickly how it works." (beat) "I didn't need my father's notes on the subject once I had access to them."

(Bob walks over to the control console, followed by the agent that had been speaking to them. Other agents in the squad hover around the lab, weapons at the ready)

 **Agent** : "Is there anything you need?"

 **Starforce** : "Some coffee and a bar stool would be nice."

 **Agent** : "A bar stool?"

 **Starforce** : "My rib hasn't quite healed yet, and it's uncomfortable right now to stand for long periods of time."

(the talking agent motions to one of the others, who nods and trots out of the Quantum Displacement lab)

 **Starforce** (to the agent): "Thank you."

(Bob starts typing madly at the keyboard on the command console. What the agent watching him doesn't realize is that Bob has just typed the message "Holo-D, can you read me?" in Unicode)

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II. One minute later)

 **Holo-D** (flashing madly while bellowing): "MRS. HAWKINS?!?"

(Julie skids into the Great Room, still holding baby Laura)

 **Ladyhawk** : "WHAT?!?"

 **Holo-D** : "Believe it or not, I have a message from Bob!"

(Julie gasps in amazement. Laura stirs and begins to softly cry)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Laura): "Hush, little Laura..." (to Holo-D) "Show me."

* * *

(Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The next morning [Texas time])

(An UNTIL-liveried VTOL is being prepared for departure as an UNTIL van drives up and stops. Captain Rochemont leads his platoon out onto the tarmac)

 **Rochemont** (walking up to the back of the VTOL): "I need to speak to the pilot."

(a medium-height UNTIL lieutenant stands up from the cargo pod whose fastenings she has just checked)

 **Pilot** (saluting, with a hint of a Japanese accent): "Here, sir!"

 **Rochemont** : "How soon to departure?"

 **Pilot** : "Five minutes, captain."

 **Rochemont** (indicating the VTOL): "Have you had much experience with the Drake-Victoria?"

 **Pilot** : "Quite a bit, actually. She's a dream to handle."

 **Rochemont** : "Then it sounds like my platoon's in good hands, lieutenant..."

 **Pilot** : "Ishikawa. Lynne Ishikawa."

(Rochemont nods and turns away to get his platoon onboard. Only then does she smile)

* * *

(Quantum Displacement Lab, al Muhsanat Jawhira, Awad. Simultaneous with previous scene)

(Bob is staring intently at a screen on the control panel, filled with what appears to be numeric gibberish. The lead agent tasked with guarding him looks over his shoulder)

 **Agent** : "So what are you doing now?"

 **Starforce** (absently): "Talking with you."

(the agent raises his blaster pistol and releases the safety)

 **Starforce** (coldly, still not looking at the agent): "And just WHAT do you intend to tell your Mistress when she demands to know why her slave labor has a pulson bolt through his head before her teleporter is complete?"

(tense pause, then the agent safes his pistol)

 **Agent** : "Perhaps I should frog-march you to her quarters for some more attitude adjustment."

(THAT gets Bob's attention. Anger and fear fight for control of his eyes as he looks at the agent)

 **Agent** : "Good. It seems that I *do* have your number after all."

 **Starforce** (muttered snarl): "Bastard."

 **Agent** : "And the best thing about your situation?" (beat, smugly, leaning across the console and getting directly into Bob's face) "If you DO manage to escape somehow, who's going to believe you when you tell them you've been raped?"

(laughing, he walks off. Anger wins the war for control of Bob's expression before he turns back to the screen that bears the Unicode message from Holo-D "She's on her way with your suit.")

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[your turn's coming in 12 hours]]

* * *

(UNTIL DV-200 VTOL, approaching Awad. 12 Hours later)

(the lead DV-200 containing Captain Rochemont has pulled ahead of its squadron mates bringing the rest of the UNTIL assault in. F/A-18s from the USS _Eisenhower_ circle overhead protecting them)

 **Pilot** : "Captain Rochemont, a moment?"

(Rochemont works his way up to the cockpit. Lt. Ishikawa points into her HUD, which shows a nasty-looking field of translucent, interlocking red hemispheres all around the Dungeon and the cliff face/coastline it occupies looking over the Indian Ocean)

 **Pilot** : "That's their air defense network around the target! Are you SURE you want me to try to fly through that?"

 **Rochemont** : "We are providing target designation for the US Navy in order to take it down. That allows the rest of the UNTIL assault to make it to the landing zone unscathed."

 **Pilot** : "That's asking quite a bit from me..."

 **Rochemont** : "You are our best pilot available, Lt. Ishikawa. You have your orders."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Pilot** : "Yes, sir." (louder, over her shoulder) "Everyone, strap in tight!"

(Rochemont moves back into the cabin, straps into his seat, and double-checks how tight the straps are)

(beat, then Lt. Ishikawa slams the throttles hard against the end-stops and dives for the deck)

* * *

(Security Center, al-Muhsanat Jawhira. one second later)

 **Agent 1** : "Confirmed. We've got one contact breaking for the deck. Acceleration and LIDAR profile matches the Drake-Victoria DV-200 VTOL UNTIL's been buying recently."

 **Agent 2** : "Their pilot must think he's some hotshot to try and come into our defense net like that. Let's see how he handles a couple of MD-3's."

* * *

(Lead UNTIL VTOL, approaching al-Muhsanat Jawhira. One second later)

(the missile alert starts buzzing insistently in the cockpit)

 **Pilot** (absently): "Well, THAT brings back memories."

(she watches the incoming trajectories on her HUD. One second before impact, she redirects thrust all-vertical with a bone-jarring THUMP, shoving the VTOL straight up into the air while dropping two flares. Doing a combined spin and wingover, she presents the smallest possible profile to the missiles as they destroy the flares, then with another bone-jarring THUMP slaloms the VTOL back into level flight at full speed, only 10 meters above the Indian Ocean)

 **Pilot** (internal monologue): [[just like Amchitka. NOT]]

(four more missiles have launched by this time. They spread out to try and box the VTOL in from all points of the compass before making their attack runs)

 **Pilot** (yanking the control stick hard toward her): "Going UP..."

(the battered UNTIL platoon in the cabin groans at the attempt at the high-performance climb. The missiles obediently follow their target, only to be spoofed by the VTOL slamming on the brakes in mid-air while firing two flares forward. The VTOL falls into a flat spin as all four missiles from that salvo miss)

 **Pilot** (slamming the engines into opposing thrust): "Oh, NO you don't..."

(the flat spin becomes a normal spin, which the pilot recovers from at the last second. A wingtip slices through a wave of the ocean, they were that close to crashing)

(the missile warning goes off AGAIN for four more missiles, who by the time they have target acquisition are already past the VTOL. The VTOL is level with the top of the cliffs around the Dungeon, and now only 2 kilometers out)

 **Pilot** (commanding a shallow dive): "Let's see what we can do about those, now..."

(she stands on the brakes one more time, going from full horizontal velocity to an ascending hover just in front of the ragged cliffs. Two more flares convince the missile salvo to attack them. The shockwave of their explosions knock the VTOL over the top of the cliff as the pilot lowers the landing gear. Spinning crazily, the VTOL slams roughly to the ground west of the Dungeon)

 **Rochemont** (unstrapping as the back ramp drops): "GO GO GO GO GO!!!"

(The UNTIL squad storms out of the VTOL, leaving Lt. Ishikawa behind. Beat, then she strips out of her UNTIL uniform and takes her wig off to reveal that she's actually Ladyhawk in armor. She walks by the grav-pod long enough to grab her utility belt and katanas out of it and get the rest of her kit in place before stealthily exiting the VTOL)

 **Ladyhawk** (murmured): "Any landing you can walk away from."

* * *

(outside al-Muhsanat Jawhira. One second later)

(Kat is with the three platoons of agents storming out of the Dungeon. A single platoon of UNTIL agents is swarming out of the VTOL that somehow survived the Dungeon's air defenses)

 **Kat** : "This is IT?"

 **Agent 1** : "The rest of the UNTIL VTOLs are loitering just outside air defense range, along with an air strike from the _Eisenhower_ that just feinted an attack run toward us."

 **Kat** : "Then let's not wait for their reinforcements to attempt penetrating our defense net!" (points toward the UNTIL platoon) "Kill them."

 **Agent 2** : "Wait. Are they aiming at the air defense batteries?"

 **Agent 3** : "With PULSON rifles? Like that'll be effective..."

 **Agent 4** : "Wait one. They're... LASING the targets?"

 **Agent 1** (confused): "What for?"

(Kat's eyes widen in horror)

 **Kat** : "ALL PLATOONS! TAKE COVER!!"

(all three platoons of ARGENT agents dive for cover two seconds before the first laser-guided bombs from the Navy strike whistle in and obliterate *all* anti-aircraft batteries around the Dungeon)

 **Agent 1** (to Kat): "Mistress, we can still take UNTIL *now* before their reinforcements arrive..."

 **Kat** : "And get pinned down in the open when the Navy's F/A-18s start their strafing runs?"

(her question gets answered by multiple jets whistling overhead, strafing the ground between the Dungeon and the UNTIL platoon currently on the ground)

 **Kat** : "Wait for UNTIL's reinforcements to come in for a landing. THEN we charge!"

 **Agent 1** : "But, Mistress..."

 **Kat** : "DO AS I COMMAND!"

(tense pause, punctuated by another four F/A-18s performing a strafing run)

 **Agent 1** : "Yes, Mistress."

* * *

(the cliffs underneath al-Muhsanat Jawhira. Simultaneous with previous scene)

(With three bounds and her swingline, Ladyhawk makes it down the cliff face and is now hiding among the jagged, angular boulders along the shoreline. She has noticed the channel of darker-blue water extending directly up to the cliff face underneath the dungeon)

 **Ladyhawk** (murmured): "Now WHY would there have been a channel of deeper water *right* *there* when the rest of the water to either side is so shallow?"

(she waits as the bombs finish exploding somewhere beyond the top of the cliff face above her, then wades into the water around two of the boulders. She works her way over to the closest underwater drop-off, sticks her face underwater, and sees an underwater tunnel extending inland directly underneath the Dungeon)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[bingo]]

(she pulls her face back above water and reaches for the rebreather from her utility belt, chest-high water lapping gently around her as F/A-18s scream overhead)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue, looking at her rebreather): [[Probably don't need it, thanks to my nannies. Nerd-boy and I were regularly doing five-minute freedives the last time we were in the BVI.]] (beat) [[Doing something more vigorous than a simple underwater swim...]]

(she shakes her head to fight off the quick pulse of arousal that particular memory brings up)

 **Ladyhawk** (muttered): "FOCUS, Julie!"

(she activates the rebreather and puts it into her mouth. Beat, then she dives underwater for the access tunnel)

* * *

(Submarine Hangar, al-Muhsanat Jawhira, Awad. Two minutes later)

(Agents are preparing the sub drones for action)

 **Agent 1** (laughing): "UNTIL thinks they can storm our front entrance under American carrier air cover!"

 **Agent 2** : "Wait until the _Eisenhower_ battle group gets a load of what we're about to send their way!"

(Agent 1 steps across a wet trail extending from the dock's edge, almost as if something had just exited the water)

 **Agent 1** : "Wait, what..."

(there is the sound of something approximately the size and mass of an armored body hitting the ground in the direction Agent 2 last remembered Agent 1 going)

 **Agent 2** : "Greg?"

(Agent 2 advances toward where he last heard agent 1. He finds Agent 1 unconscious and bleeding from what appear to be multiple sword-strokes, blood mingling with the trail of seawater left by something exiting the underground sub hangar)

 **Agent 2** (to his radio): "This is agent Thomas..."

(two katanas slicing out of the shadows end Agent 2's attempt to call for reinforcements. The first blows out his Dimensional Shunt harness [forcefield], the second goes through his ballistic cloth like tissue paper and leaves him wounded and unconscious)

 **Radio** (from Agent 2): "Agent Thomas, radio check!"

(a wet female hand reaches down and grabs the microphone off of Agent 2's armor)

 **Ladyhawk** (wet, sultry, to microphone): "Agent Thomas is unavailable right now. May *I* help you?"

* * *

(Quantum Displacement Lab, al-Muhsanat Jawhira)

(Bob leans out of an open wall containing high-energy conduits. He looks exhausted)

 **Starforce** : "We're ready."

(the agents assigned to guard Bob look relieved and triumphant)

 **Lead Agent** : "Finally!" (beat, to Bob) "Our mistress has special instructions concerning its testing."

 **Starforce** (looking like he had been about to say something else): "Oh?"

 **Lead Agent** : "YOU'RE going to be the test subject!"

(tense pause)

 **Starforce** : "Why?"

 **Lead Agent** : "Our mistress' orders. She thinks you're going to deliberately mis-set the device and kill us or something."

 **Starforce** (muttered): "And I thought *I* was paranoid." (beat, louder voice) "Okay, fine. Your buddy in the powered armor might want to bail out of it now just in case it picks up any sidelobes or stray resonances."

(as Bob takes the teleporter platform, the armored agent takes it off)

 **Lead Agent** : "Okay, then. How do I make this work?"

 **Starforce** : "The coordinates are pre-set for the test pad at the other end of the lab. Just shove the lever up to the top."

 **Lead Agent** : "Just like in _Star Trek_?"

 **Starforce** (shrugging his shoulders): "What can I say?"

 **Agent** (laughs): "Okay! Here goes..."

(he shoves the lever up to the top as Bob instructed. Quantum displacement fields build not around Bob on the test pad, but everything that *isn't* on a test pad)

 **Lead Agent** : "Hey..."

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

(the displacement fields collapse, leaving the lab empty except for Bob and the suit of powered armor)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[500 meters offshore and 10 meters up. Hope they can swim]]

(Working quickly on the test pad on which he was standing, he pops open a generator door and rapidly switches some components around)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[there. That should make it safe for me to use for escaping]]

(he makes his way over toward the powered armor which that agent thoughtfully left behind before the test)

* * *

(Security Center, al-Muhsanat Jawhira. One second later)

(The two agents monitoring the Dungeon's internal camera network lie on the floor -- bound, gagged, bleeding, and unconscious. Ladyhawk stands above them, frantically switching through cameras in the Dungeon)

 **Ladyhawk** : "C'mon, Nerd-boy! Be somewhere I can see you..."

(she finally steps through the cameras in the Quantum Displacement Lab)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Oh, thank God!"

(she has a private intercom into the Lab cued up in short order)

 **Ladyhawk** (into the mike): "Nerd-boy!"

(on the monitor, she sees Bob look up from the armor he was picking up to put on)

 **Starforce** (over speaker): "Ninjette?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I brought your suit like you instructed when you contacted Holo-D! Do you have a way of getting out of the Dungeon?"

 **Starforce** (over speaker): "Yeah, but given that it's a quantum-displacement teleporter I'd much prefer to bring my suit to me."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I left a homing beacon on in the grav pod. Can you target that?"

 **Starforce** (over speaker): "Should be able to."

 **Ladyhawk** : "What happened to the guards that should have been with you?"

 **Starforce** (over speaker): "They all decided to go swimming."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Oookay." (beat) "Are you OK?"

 **Starforce** (over speaker): "No." (beat) "I'll explain after we both destroy this stinking hell-hole."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Be advised Captain Rochemont is outside engaging ARGENT in battle."

 **Starforce** (over speaker): "Aw, CRAP! What's *he* doing here?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "His job. I hitched a ride with him after I convinced him that you went off the reservation."

 **Starforce** (beat, over speaker): "Oh."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Let me know when you're suited up and ready to cut loose. I have one more job to do while we're here."

 **Starforce** (over speaker): "Which would be..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Have a little talk with a former student of yours about what she's done."

* * *

(outside al-Muhsanat Jawhira. One second later)

(UNTIL and ARGENT agents have each other pinned down in front of the Dungeon)

 **Agent** (to Kat): "If we can flank them somehow, we can roll their position up."

 **Kat** (evil smile): "I think I may have just what we need." (to radio) "Parsons, status update on Dr. Hawkins?"

(there is nothing but static)

 **Kat** (to radio): "Anyone in Squad 11, respond!"

(still nothing but static)

 **Kat** (switching channel): "Security, can you give me a status check of Dr. Hawkins' lab?"

(nothing but static on *that* channel, too)

 **Agent** : "Are we being jammed?"

 **Kat** : "It's quantum-entanglement tech. Nothing either UNTIL or the American military have can jam it!" (getting up into a low crouch) "Keep them busy. I'll see what's happening inside."

(she sprints into the Dungeon, and finds her way into the Security Center. She looks at the bodies of her security personnel struggling weakly against their bonds, then looks at the monitors. She gasps)

(The main monitor is still looking into the Quantum Displacement Lab. Starforce has just finished putting his battlesuit on, and the Dolbyesque whine of its spin-up to power fills the audio feed)

 **Kat** : "ROBERT!"

(Starforce looks at the camera and raises his right gauntlet. A forcebeam is charging up for firing)

 **Starforce** (over speaker): "Pray that my wife finds you before I do."

(there is a blinding flash of light, a squeal of feedback, and all connection with the Lab is lost. There is a tremor from somewhere underneath Kat's feet)

 **Kat** (internal monologue): [[I have an EMP rifle up in my quarters. If I can get to it before he finds me, I can shut him down and kill him first]]

(she takes off at a dead run from the Security Center)

* * *

(Katharine el-Hassan's personal quarters. Thirty seconds later)

(the tremors underfoot are almost continuous now, accentuated by the occasional puff of dust from the walls or ceiling. The door bleeps, and Kat runs in, slamming the door in her haste)

 **Ladyhawk** : "You took your time."

(Kat freezes in front of the door. Ladyhawk is sitting on one of the couches in front of the fire pit. Her armor is still soaked with seawater and blood)

 **Kat** : "Miss Dormyer! What an unpleasant surprise!"

 **Ladyhawk** (coldly): "You will address me by my correct name."

 **Kat** : "Make me. I knew Bob Hawkins before you knew he even EXISTED!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "But yet you weren't memorable enough for him to remember you in later years." (beat) "I've known him for 13 years. Three months of working with Tara Lemick made more of an impression on him than three years of teaching you physics ever did."

 **Kat** (angry): "LIAR!"

 **Ladyhawk** (innocently): "Oh, did I touch a nerve there?"

(Ladyhawk uncurls from the sofa upon which she was reclining. There is something almost feline and predatory about her lateral movement around Kat's quarters)

 **Ladyhawk** (continuing): "Perhaps you would like to hear about what it was like to fight alongside him as a superhero?"

 **Kat** (moving laterally herself): "You don't know him like I do!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I know him far, FAR better than you ever will, child!"

 **Kat** : "You're not his true love!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I beg to differ. So would he."

 **Kat** : "He is untameable, like a force of nature! What makes you think you're woman enough to tame THAT?"

 **Ladyhawk** (sultry): "What makes you think I *haven't*?"

 **Kat** : "What makes you think he's still ALIVE?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "What makes you think that trembling under both our feet ISN'T my husband, suited up and reducing your pathetic little shit-hole of a master headquarters into rubble as we speak?"

 **Kat** : "Nobody can be *that* powerful."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Don't say that I didn't try to warn you."

(tense pause, held gaze. They continue their slow orbit around each other)

 **Kat** (slowly drawing her scimitars from their back scabbards): "You'll have to kill ME to get Robert back, Miss Dormyer. And I *never* lose."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Brave words from a dead woman."

 **Kat** (smugly): "You're quite mistaken. I'm not dead."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Yet."

(tense pause, held gaze)

* * *

(Outside al-Muhsanat Jawhira. Simultaneous with the end of the previous scene)

(UNTIL is slowly advancing against ARGENT's forces. There is a sudden burst of static over Rochemont's helmet radio)

 **Starforce** (over radio): "Captain Rochemont? This is Dr. Hawkins! Are you receiving me?"

(shocked pause)

 **Rochemont** : "Is this some sort of ploy to freeze my combat troops while you execute your latest master plan, Son of Zerstoiten?"

 **Starforce** (over radio, bellowing): "LISTEN TO ME, ROCHEMONT!! I am about to destroy al-Muhsanat Jawhira but I DO NOT want to kill any UNTIL agents in the process!"

 **Rochemont** (beat): "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

 **Starforce** (over radio, almost sounding panicked): "I give you my word that you will get to debrief me AND receive a gift from me, but you have to HOLD YOUR CURRENT POSITION for the next ninety seconds in order to reap those rewards!"

(tense pause)

 **Rochemont** (into radio): "UNTIL! HOLD YOUR POSITIONS!!"

 **Starforce** (over radio, sounding relieved): "Thank you."

* * *

(Katharine el-Hassan's personal quarters. One second later)

(Ladyhawk and Kat orbit each other. Kat's hands are quite full of scimitars, while Ladyhawk's hands are devoid of weaponry of any sort)

(Segment 2, effective DEX 35. Almost too fast to perceive with the naked eye, Ladyhawk grabs smoke pellets from her utility belt and throws them to the ground between herself and Kat. The room is instantly filled with dark smoke, rendering sight useless. Unknown to Kat for the moment, it's also draining 1 PRE every segment she remains within it)

 **Kat** (mocking as she lays a scimitar down to put sensory goggles on): "You think I won't be able to see, Miss Dormyer? I expected better from you..."

(Segment 3, effective DEX 35. Three shuriken embed themselves into her side for 3 BODY and 4 STUN after defenses. Gasping, she expends her action this segment to drop the goggles and grab the scimitar she put down)

(Segment 5, effective DEX 35. Kat feels the gust of air a split-second before the first katana hits. She flails blindly with both scimitars, and manages to put 2 BODY on Ladyhawk as Ladyhawk's second katana hits. Between both of Ladyhawk's strikes, Kat has taken 6 BODY and 37 STUN. CON-stunned and mortally wounded, Kat drops one of her scimitars, and clutches her side [right now, she has 3 BODY and 1 STUN left])

 **Kat** (gasping while recovering from being stunned): "What ARE you?"

 **Ladyhawk** (directionless, making her Ventriloquism roll): "I'm a ninja, bitch. That's all you need to know."

(Segment 6, effective DEX 35. Ladyhawk's 8d6 Presence attack easily gets PRE+10 on Kat, which helps her to fail her EGO roll for continuing to fight)

(Effective DEX 33. Kat grabs a grenade off her webbing and throws it toward what her memory tells her is the outside wall. Her memory is correct; daylight seeps through from that direction after detonation as the smoke cloud begins to get sucked out of the Dungeon. Desperately, she throws herself toward the opening)

(Segment 8, effective DEX 35. Kat sees the marbles land and spray over the floor in front of her too late to avoid stepping on them. She fails the subsequent DEX roll)

(Effective DEX 33. Screaming, Kat slips and hurtles out of the upper floor of the Dungeon, Ladyhawk 8 meters into a 10-meter leap in hot pursuit)

(Segment 9, effective DEX 35. Falling toward the rocky shoreline below, Ladyhawk grabs the front of Kat's armor with her left hand while firing her grapple gun with her right. The grapple attaches to the nearest corner parapet. She grunts in pain as they swing dizzily around the corner of the Dungeon, Kat still screaming, both now heading inexorably toward the western wall)

 **Ladyhawk** (hoisting Kat in front of her as a shield): "Oh, shut UP!!"

(Segment 11, effective DEX 35. Kat takes the entire impact of them both against the western wall of the Dungeon for 14 STUN after defenses. She is out)

* * *

(al-Muhsanat Jawhira. 30 seconds later)

(Kat comes to with a loud roaring sound filling her ears. Extreme heat also seems to be coming from that direction)

 **Ladyhawk** (hissing): "Now that you're awake, perhaps you can explain something to me."

(Kat's eyes come into focus. What appears to be a giant, molten tornado fills the space which used to be occupied by the Dungeon. An armored form can intermittently be seen at the vortex's top, arms spread and glowing brilliantly)

 **Kat** : "Wha... what's THAT?"

 **Ladyhawk** (coldly): "My husband, doing *exactly* what I said he would do one minute ago! Destroying your pathetic little shit-hole of a secret headquarters." (beat, hissing) "What did you DO to him to make him want to do *that*?!?"

(the molten funnel slows down and begins to collapse on the former site of the Dungeon, revealing Starforce in full kit. He flash-steps away from the collapsing funnel, then focuses on Ladyhawk and Kat)

 **Ladyhawk** (Danger Sense going off): "Oh, crap..."

(Starforce flash-steps to the ground 10 meters away from them. He extends his left hand, and Kat finds herself flying through the air under the effect of his TK. She gasps as her neck lands in his gauntlet)

 **Ladyhawk** (running toward Starforce): "ROBERT ALAN HAWKINS! PUT HER DOWN!!"

 **Starforce** (to Kat, ignoring Ladyhawk, voice eerily matter-of-fact): "You thought there wouldn't be consequences, didn't you?"

(his right gauntlet starts charging a pushed forcebeam)

 **Ladyhawk** (attempting to rip Kat from Starforce's neck grip): "We're heroes! WE. DON'T. KILL people!!"

 **Starforce** (angry, to Ladyhawk): "You have *no* idea what she did to me."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Starforce): "There is NOTHING the Jewel of Awad could have done to you to justify premeditated MURDER, Bob!"

 **Starforce** (beat, growling through clenched teeth): "She. Raped. Me."

(shocked pause, held gaze. Kat has finally recovered enough strength and is in enough fear for her life that she is able to beat Starforce in a STR roll-off and escape the neck grip. She tries to run off, only to scream and collapse to the ground from the shuriken Ladyhawk just put into her right leg for 1 more BODY)

(Ladyhawk and Starforce walk over to where Kat lays on the ground, broken and whimpering)

 **Starforce** (to Ladyhawk): "My way would have been cleaner."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Starforce): "My way leaves her alive to learn from her misdeeds."

 **Starforce** : "You'll forgive me if that's a chance I'm not willing to take?"

(by this time, Captain Rochemont has walked up to the tableau)

 **Rochemont** (to Ladyhawk and Starforce): "Are you both through with Mademoiselle el-Hassan?"

(tense pause, held gaze between Ladyhawk and Starforce)

 **Ladyhawk/Starforce** : "Yes."

 **Rochemont** : "Are there any charges the two of you wish to add to the warrant which I am about to serve her?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Kidnapping."

 **Starforce** : "Rape."

 **Rochemont** : "Kidnapping is already on the warrant. Son of Zerstoiten, are you sure about your charge?"

 **Starforce** : "Yes."

(beat, then Rochemont nods)

 **Rochemont** : "My staff will debrief you while I take Mademoiselle el-Hassan into custody."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Rochemont): "Thank you."

* * *

(the ruins of al-Muhsanat Jawhira, Awad. 15 minutes later)

(American fighter jets scream overhead, covering UNTIL and US special forces from the _Eisenhower_ battle group while they continue the post-battle mop-up. Starforce and Ladyhawk are finishing their respective post-battle debriefs to UNTIL)

 **UNTIL Agent** : "They were interested in nothing else, Dr. Hawkins?"

 **Starforce** : "No, ma'am. All they wanted was a working quantum-displacement teleporter."

(Captain Rochemont has walked up to Starforce's debrief by this time)

 **Rochemont** : "Which you did a very thorough job of destroying once you built."

 **Starforce** : "You're welcome. Quantum displacement is *nasty* technology..."

(tense pause, held gaze. Ladyhawk joins Starforce while this is happening)

 **Rochemont** : "You still owe UNTIL one more thing before I shall even *consider* your request for a head-start, Son of Zerstoiten."

 **Starforce** : "Yeah, about that. It's in your lead APC."

 **Rochemont** (beat): "Excuse me?"

 **Starforce** : "In your lead APC is an antigrav pod of my own personal design and construction, which Ladyhawk used to transport my suit here. As a 'thank you' for helping to liberate me from captivity, it's UNTIL's to reverse-engineer."

(shocked pause and murmuring among the UNTIL agents gathered around Rochemont and Starforce)

 **Starforce** (to Rochemont, continuing): "Unlike my father, I keep my word."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Rochemont** : "You leave me no choice, Son of Zerstoiten. You are free to leave with your nation's forces once they are done on-site."

 **Starforce** (standing): "Thank you."

 **Rochemont** : "Mademoiselle Hawkins. A moment?"

(Ladyhawk raises an eyebrow, then squeezes one of Starforce's hands before walking over to Rochemont)

 **Rochemont** (low voice): "You do know that impersonating an UNTIL agent is an international felony?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I have no idea what you're talking about."

 **Rochemont** : "Yes, you do... Lieutenant Ishikawa."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (hotly): "If you had allowed me to come with you when I originally ASKED, I wouldn't have had to do that!"

 **Rochemont** : "And if I had done *that*, would the pilot that was SUPPOSED to have flown the mission gotten us through ARGENT's anti-aircraft defenses like you did?"

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "You PLAYED me?"

 **Rochemont** (smiling): "Good day, Mademoiselle."

(still smiling, he walks off. Ladyhawk stares after him, jaw still hanging open in disbelief)

* * *

**EPILOGUE** : Fuseli Clinic, Carrolton, TX. One month later

(Julie enters Matt 'Biomaster' Fuseli's main office at the clinic)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Thank you for seeing me, Matt."

 **Biomaster** : "My pleasure, Julia! You said you wanted to talk to me about Robert?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Yes. I know you're not a specialist in psychology..."

 **Biomaster** : "Actually, I am."

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "Oh?"

 **Biomaster** : "When I was a supervillain, I wanted to put profiles together on all of TASK FORCE. THAT required a knowledge of psychology. QED."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I *should* be disturbed by that, but you're not a supervillain anymore."

 **Biomaster** : "True." (beat) "What concerns you about Robert?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "He hasn't been the same since he was kidnapped and... raped."

 **Biomaster** : "Go on."

 **Ladyhawk** : "For starters, he isn't the man he used to be at work. He's usually this beehive of activity at ProStar, with two or three separate projects going at the same time." (beat) "Since his kidnapping, his supervisor tells me that he just sits in his lab, not doing anything!"

 **Biomaster** : "Depression is a common symptom of most types of post-traumatic stress, Julia." (beat) "What about at home?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Well... he sits at the piano and stares at the keyboard without playing it. He won't even play with our children!"

 **Biomaster** : "That's not like him. Anything else?"

(awkward pause)

 **Ladyhawk** (embarrased): "We haven't had SEX since he was rescued!"

(very awkward pause)

 **Biomaster** : "That's *definitely* not like him."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Believe me, I know." (beat) "Then he got hold of a copy of Rochemont's after-action report from the mission to Awad."

 **Biomaster** : "Did Rochemont know that he had been raped?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Bob told him. Based on the report, he shouldn't have bothered."

 **Biomaster** : "Rochemont didn't believe his accusation?"

 **Ladyhawk** (a hint of anger in her eyes and voice): "That is the politest thing that can be said about that report."

 **Biomaster** : "What did he say?"

 **Ladyhawk** (beat, angry): "He said that Bob was actually looking to have an affair with another woman, and made up the kidnapping story when he bumped into Kat el-Hassan in DC!"

 **Biomaster** : "That's not the Robert Hawkins either you or I know."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I know THAT!" (beat, trying to get herself under control) "It's not *what* Rochemont said, it's HOW he said it! His report was very sarcastic and insulting about Bob's accusation, bascially calling him a liar because it's impossible for men to BE raped..."

 **Biomaster** : "Rochemont *is* French. In many ways, his viewpoints on sexual roles are backward compared to what is accepted in America nowdays."

 **Ladyhawk** (tearing up): "That. Doesn't. Help my husband right now!"

(Matt lays a hand on one of Julie's on the desk)

 **Biomaster** : "Listen to me, Julia. Your husband is attempting to cope with what is basically a form of post-traumatic stress. It will not be a quick process. It will not be pain-free. You and I must do what we can to help him through it and keep himself from further damage."

(tears in her eyes, Julie looks up)

 **Biomaster** : "Also, despite what I have said about sexual roles in America, there are still people here who believe as Rochemont does, that it is impossible for a man to be raped or abused. Somewhere, deep down within his psyche, I suspect that Robert believes this himself. This would make his current behavior an attempt to reconcile his experiences with his beliefs."

 **Ladyhawk** (forlorn): "What do I do, Matt?"

 **Biomaster** : "Be there for him. Don't force it, though."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Is there anything you can do to help?"

(Matt looks off into the air for a moment)

 **Biomaster** : "You guys busy tonight?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "No."

 **Biomaster** : "I'll be over at 6 with a pack of Alpha Strike."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Your professional medical advice is to get my husband DRUNK?"

 **Biomaster** : "A wise man once said that a man will tell his bartender things that he won't tell his doctor."

 **Ladyhawk** : "That's from the first _Star Trek_ pilot!"

 **Biomaster** (coldly): "If you can think of a better way to get him to open up, Julia, I'll take it!" (beat, warmer) "He can't keep what he has experienced bottled up inside of him without there being serious consequences later in his life. It's the least I can do for him right now given what he's been through."

(tense pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Six?"

 **Biomaster** : "On the dot."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I'll have Shina cook up some of those beef ribs you like."

 **Biomaster** : "Excellent." (beat, as Julie gets up to leave) "We'll get him through this, Julia. I promise you."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Thank you, Matt."

* * *

(fin)


End file.
